F. Scott Fitzgerald

  • Fitzgerald is Born

    Fitzgerald is Born
    Born in St. Paul Minnesota. 3rd of 5 kids, only 2 of which survived infancy
  • Family moved to Minnesota

    After an unsuccessful career as a salesman, Edward Fitzgerald moved the family back to Minnesota.
  • First Publication

    At the age of 14, F. Scott Fitzgerald appears in print for the first time, with "The Mystery of the Raymond Mortgage" in the student publication St. Paul Academy Now and Then.
  • Enrolled at Princeton

    Fitzgerald enters Princeton University with the Class of 1917.
  • Writes for Princeton Tiger

    Sophomore year Fitzgerald contributes to "Princeton Tiger".
  • Army Service

    Fitzgerald takes a commission as an infantry second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and leaves school to report for duty at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He never graduates from Princeton.
  • Fitzgerald meets Sayre

    F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre meet at a country club dance in Montgomery, Alabama.
  • World War I ends

    World War I ends before Second Lieutenant Fitzgerald ever leaves the U.S.
  • Broken Engagement

    Fitzgerald is discharged from the Army in February. Hoping to marry Zelda, he takes an advertising job in New York. In June Zelda breaks the engagement due to Fitzgerald's lack of fame and wealth. Fitzgerald quits advertising, moves in with his parents in St. Paul and goes to work rewriting The Romantic Egoist.
  • Marriage to Zelda Sayre

    his Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald's first novel, is published. A week later, he and Zelda marry in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
  • Travel to Europe

    The Fitzgeralds depart for their first trip to Europe. They spend three months in England, France and Italy before returning to the U.S.
  • Birth of Daughter

    The Fitzgeralds' first and only child is born, a daughter named Frances Scott "Scottie" Fitzgerald.
  • Move to Paris

    The Fitzgeralds set sail for France. They spend most of the next seven years in Europe, predominantly in Paris.
  • The Great Gatsby

    The Great Gatsby is published.
  • Death of F. Scott Fitzgerald

    F. Scott Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack at Sheilah Graham's Hollywood, California apartment. He is buried in Rockville, Maryland, where his father was born